HELENA, Mont. – The Bushnell men's basketball team had a hard time keeping up with Carroll College on Friday evening as the Saints opened up their Comfort Suites Classic with a 99-82 victory.
 
Ranked No. 23 in the most recent NAIA coaches poll, Carroll (5-2) shot nearly 60% in the game including an 8-for-15 performance from three-point range and a 15-for-16 night at the charity stripe, leading wire-to-wire.
 
Head Coach Eddie Alexander said, "I give Carroll a lot of credit in coming out and playing so well from the start, but I am not sure we gave the resistance we needed to on the defensive end. We ran the floor well offensively but we struggled in getting the stops we needed early on in the game."
 
The Saints jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead in the first three minutes of the game and never looked back, shooting 68% in the first half as they built a 57-41 advantage at the intermission.
 
The Beacons (2-6) were led by another dynamic performance from Spencer Hoffman, scoring 26 points and 12 rebounds, adding five assists and two blocks as he shot 8-for-12 from the field. Stevie Schlabach added 17 points while Trevon Richmond provided 13 points along with team highs of five assists and two steals.
 
"I feel like tonight was a great example of what Trevon can give us in leading the team," said Alexander. "The more comfortable he gets, the better we will continue to get."
 
Bushnell will close out the tournament and play their final non-conference game of the season on Saturday, facing off against Montana State-Northern at 5:00 pm MT.